Investment activity in Q1 remained at Q4 levels, will remain relatively high - Nabiullina

MOSCOW. March 21 (Interfax) - Investment activity in Russia in Q1 2025 remained at the level of Q4 2024 and is expected to remain relatively high in the future, the governor of the Central Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, said during a briefing following the meeting of the CBR's board of directors at which the key rate was kept at 21%.

"According to preliminary data, investment activity in Q1 is roughly at the level of Q4. Therefore, there is no reason to talk about a decline in investment activity," Nabiullina said when asked how the high key rate is suppressing investment activity in Russia.

"It is clear that companies are primarily completing their ongoing investment programs. We see this; they are almost all completing them. There is some shifting of investment plans," she said.

At the same time, "investment activity will remain relatively high," Nabiullina said.

"Why? Because the main resource for financing investments is companies' own funds. Loans account for a much smaller share of the sources of investment financing. And companies' financial results or profits were quite large in previous years. Even last year, despite some decline in profits, they were high by historical standards. Therefore, there are sources of financing - companies' own funds for investments. We also encourage companies to more actively access capital markets, attract debt financing not only from banks but also from non-bank institutions, and equity financing," she said.